European Year of Skills

During the “State of the European Union” speech, von der Leyen announced 2023 as the European Year of Skills. On the 12 of October the European Commission adopted their proposal. The aim is to give a fresh impetus to lifelong learning through cooperation with the European Parliament, Member States, and other public and private partners.

To ensure that the objectives are met the Commission wants to support upskilling and reskilling opportunities, by highlighting relevant EU initiatives and funding. There will be events and campaigns held to raise awareness, as well as to organize support across the EU. The Commission calls on Member States to appoint a national coordinator in their efforts to realize the agenda.

In the Commission's proposal, linked earlier in this article, several already existing European initiatives, programmes and funding opportunities are presented as favorable support in this continued focus on skills. Regarding Horizon Europe the Commission highlights how the programme underpins skills for researchers, entrepreneurs and innovators. In Erasmus+ the development of learners, staff and institutions are central, and the European Universities are presented as “pioneering the development of micro-credentials for training, up-skilling and re-skilling".

The next step regarding Year of Skills is that this proposal by the Commission will be discussed in the European Parliament and the Council.